Last month, Johnson Matthey Process Technologies (JMPT; London, U.K.; www.matthey.com) and Rennovia Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.; www.rennovia.com) successfully started-up a fully integrated mini-plant for production of glucaric acid from glucose using jointly developed technology. The mini-plant is located at the…
It has been known for a long time that sulfonated active-carbon acid can catalyze both esterification and transesterification to produce biodiesel fuels from oils with high acid value without pretreatment. However, the separation of such catalysts requires filtration or centrifugation,…
Micropollutants, such as antibiotics and flame retardants, can pose a health threat to animals and humans, even in tiny concentrations. Current methods to remove micropollutants from the environment include adsorption onto powdered activated carbon, which is then separated from the…
Researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, Colo.; www.colorado.edu) have developed a technology that combines wastewater treatment and carbon capture, resulting in a carbon-negative process that actually produces energy. The technology — called microbial electrolytic carbon capture (MECC) —…
First FDI adopter With its Field Information Manager software, ABB (Zurich, Switzerland; www.abb.com) has become the first host company to adopt new field-device integration (FDI) technology. The FDI platform offered by the FieldComm Group (Austin, Tex., www.fieldcommgroup.com) brings together for…
Integral Technology (Canton, Mich.; www.electriplast.com) has developed bipolar plates made from its electrically conductive plastic that can be used to reduce the space required for 12- and 24-V batteries, and virtually eliminate the need for lead metal in traditional lead-acid…
In an industrial-scale demonstration, a technology designed to lower NOx emissions has also boosted energy efficiency, according to developer ClearSign Combustion Corp. (Seattle, Wash.; www.clearsign.com). In addition to keeping NOx emissions at 5 ppm or below in industrial burners, ClearSign’s…
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing, China; www.cas.cn) and Fuzhou University (Fuzhou, China; www.fzu.edu.cn), led by the Academy’s Prof Qian Liu, have reported a new method for high-throughput, sensitive, and rapid screening of low-mass hazardous compounds in complex…
Nanoscale iron catalysts, designed for industrial chemical applications, have been validated in commercial ammonia-production reactors in China. According to manufacturer QuantumSphere, Inc. (QSI; Santa Ana, Calif.; www.qsinano.com), incorporation of the nanocatalysts resulted in a 10–15% increase in ammonia production rate…
The research group of professor Ken-ichi Fujita at Kyoto University (Kyoto, www.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp) has developed an efficient catalytic system for the production of hydrogen from an aqueous methanol solution. The process uses a new, anionic iridium complex bearing a functional bipyridonate…